Here We Go Again: Is Minority Mortgage Meltdown II Underway?
03/08/2017
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A press release from Wells Fargo:
Wells Fargo Commits to Increase African American Homeownership

ATLANTA – February 28, 2017

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), the leading U.S. home loan lender, today announced a $60 billion lending commitment to create at least 250,000 African American homeowners by 2027.

The company’s commitment is a direct action to help address the lower homeownership rates in the African American community and follows Wells Fargo’s announcement to address Hispanic homeownership rates in 2015. Wells Fargo’s commitment seeks to:

Lend $60 billion to qualified African American consumers for home purchases by 2027, Increase the diversity of the Wells Fargo Home Lending sales team, and Support the effort with $15 million to support a variety of initiatives that promote financial education and counseling over the next ten years.

And a Wells Fargo press release from 2015:
Wells Fargo Announces $125 Billion Lending Goal to Support NAHREP’s Hispanic Wealth Project

Company also plans increase in Hispanic home mortgage consultants and $10 million to support financial education and counseling; NAHREP strives to triple Hispanic household wealth over 10 years

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 15, 2015

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage announced today, the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, its support of the goals of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals’ Hispanic Wealth Project, which seeks to triple Hispanic household wealth over the next decade. Wells Fargo’s goals over the next 10 years include a projected $125 billion in mortgage originations and a goal of $10 million to support a variety of initiatives that promote financial education and counseling for Hispanic homebuyers. In continued recognition of the importance of hiring and retaining a diverse workforce, Wells Fargo also plans to increase the number of Hispanic home mortgage consultants on its sales team.

On the other hand, $185 billion is chicken feed compared to the really big money that was being tossed around in the run-up to the housing crash.

Nobody remembers the kind of press releases being issued during the Housing Bubble, but here is Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide’s early 2003 pledge in a Harvard speech of $600 billion in minority and lower income lending. And then, right after he got Fannie Mae on board with his plans, Angelo followed it up with a January 14, 2005 pledge of $1 trillion in mortgages to favored groups by 2010.

But who can remember a trillion dollar promise or imagine that it might tie into subsequent events that were in the newspapers in 2007-2008?

Our sacred cow is Diversity so it’s not only easy for ambitious men like Mozilo to take big risks with other people’s money by saying he’s doing it for the sake of Diversity, but it’s hard to remember what happened because our culture doesn’t want anything negative associated with Diversity.

[Comment at Unz.com]

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